wolfe_man

Those are definitely the good days! I’ve had a couple like that over the years and they’re something to savor!

Fair enough. If the customer wants it, then that’s their call of course. I appreciate your workmanship on these. They look great and you are to be commended.

All JV should be three innings or 75 minutes - whichever comes first! Good job though in all seriousness, that’s keeping them moving! I had a 10-0 Varsity in 75 minutes last night. In Ohio, we can’t quit until five innings are played, regardless of score. Or if coaches mutually agree to stop earlier. Tonight, I had a 2-1 ten inning game in under 2.75 hours. You win some, you lose some.

Not to be picky, but that seems a lot of extra material between the neck and the plate. Are you sure that the collarbone is still completely protected with the pad jacket as it appears in these photos? A normal Gold only has the small neck roll at the neck opening and then the chest plate starts… same with the shoulders, a small section of pad is showing and then plate starts. Maybe it’s me, but this seems a bit too much padding before the plate coverage which concerns me. I’d be worried about a ball hitting pad only, which won’t fully absorb a baseball impact causing possible damage to neck/shoulder/collarbone. I like the looks of these and didn’t notice this on the Powers that have been done, just these Golds appear off to me. Again, maybe it’s me because I also thought some of the Team Wendy’s had this issue also. Too much padding in some cases. Heres a pic of a stock Gold showing tighter neck/shoulder pad openings closer to the plating.

My partner did the similar thing last night on our field. He stopped using C because of the sun setting. Sun sets in west of course, but the field is on the top of a big hill outside of town, facing SW, so you get a lot of sunset time.. he stayed in B once it dropped to the problem area.

You jinxed me! I was doing good this year (and last), with no gouges, until this post... F2 got me last night on the first pitch.

Yes, definitely makes sense. I can see where it would help speed things up too. It's amazing to me how many players are dragging their butts around, but I'll spare you all the "not in my day" stories.

I'm with the others and haven't seen it. I've worked on college fields where the pitchers sat in the 'pen and lived it up, but never had to go get anyone. And I don't think I've seen more than one guy throwing in the bullpen at any one time yet either.

That's a neat occurrence! I've almost done it a time or two, but not trapped/caught yet.

And here I thought I was the only person who thinks theBananas is not what MLB needs to imitate… or incorporate in any way into real baseball.

Bring back mandatory uniform numbers? Nope, then they'll think we're wearing a polo golf shirt.

I’m in the last camp too. I’d love to see and use newer designs!

You make a good point here Champ! It's important to self-diagnose something is off, get checked out if you're having lingering or excessive (your call again here) issues like we're trained to identify in others - and take time off and rest! Never rush back as it only increases the likelihood of the next impact causing more severe and/or longer-lasting damage. I've had a mild concussion (AS MAG on foul back in a JV game) and didn't realize it until I was having the worst plate game of my life the following day. I honestly was thinking of retiring after that one, I did that poorly. I was apologizing to the kids, F2's, coaches - anyone that would listen... when it hit me and I had that proverbial light-bulg moment - I must have a concussion! It felt like I was looking out of my eyes sideways, I just couldn't see a pitch well at all. I had no headache or other typical signs, other than my vision was"off". I called my assignor and took the rest of the week off and went back at it the next week with no further issues. It's very important to err on the side of caution and be responsible for your own health here. Don't be ego-driven and try to tough it out. It's too your advantage to rest up and recover and don't come back until you're ready.

@mac266 Congratulations, sir. Thank you for your service and dedication to our country.

I think a 12-13.5" is more than sufficient. I'm your height also and routinely wear 12-13.5" CP's without issue. The main thing is make sure your last rib is covered when you're in your stance. Your stomach may be soft or hard, but there are no bones to break there. In my experience, you'll seldom take a hit there. I am hit on my arms more than anywhere else, then probably chest protector on bounced pitches or foul backs, then mask, then shins... and then my stomach and thighs. Why protect the fat muscle? Just shrug it off and move on. The Platinum is an excellent CP without the billow pad and with the addition of a nice flex harness (F3, UL, All Star). They can be worked with and trained (via heat gun and patience) to fit you like a glove and offer as low profile and protective CP as there is out there today. The stock padding is pretty thin, but hot and traps heat. A nice replacement pad would go a long way to improving this CP, preferably one that sheds/repels water and has good ventilation properties too. Max has some great ideas, so if the pad maker can replicate them properly, then you'll have a great unit.